Saturday, December 22, 2012

Tis the season of giving, but as you invite family and
friends into your home for holiday festivities, beware – for some, it is also
the season for taking. According to the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy, most teens initially get prescription pills from family and
friends, including straight from home medicine cabinets. And it’s not
just teens.

Prescription drug abuse has become an epidemic in the United
States. Deaths from prescription drug overdoses have become the second leading
cause of accidental deaths nationwide, and the leading cause in as many as 15
states.

“Prescription pill abusers are no different than those that
are addicted to illicit drugs like meth or heroin. They will go to great
lengths to get their fix. I can’t stress enough the importance of safeguarding
your medications,” says Lora Brown, MD, a Pain Management Physician and Medical
Director for WAKE UP!, a community educational campaign created to combat the
increase in prescription drug abuse among teenagers.

Brown
says that you should always safeguard your medicine, but it’s especially
important during the holidays when friends, family, neighbors and sometimes
strangers are invited into our homes. Don’t discuss what medications you
are taking with anyone but your medical or mental health team, and keep the
medications in a secure place at all times. Often these medications are stolen
from medicine cabinets and nightstands. Addicts have been known to break into
homes where they suspect they can find meds, as well as assault someone who is
in possession of the prescription medication they desire.

About WAKE UP!:

WAKE UP! is a community educational
campaign established by The Pain Truth, a Florida 501(c)(3), to combat the increase in prescription drug abuse
among teenagers. It is designed to use science, not scare tactics, to educate teenagers of the effects and dangers
of prescription drugs. The program uses a school “takeover” approach to reach thousands of students and their
families with an extended program designed to teach not preach about the
dangers of abusing and misusing prescription
drugs. This program is unique in many ways. One of the most important aspects is sustainability through a
school-based CORE of students and educators that remain present and active long
after the original campaign is complete.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Do you have a smart child that can pass tests but is failing classes since they don't finish their homework assignments?

This is very common.

The last thing that kids want to do when they get home from school is
homework, and sometimes it can seem near impossible to get them to
settle down to study when all they want to do is play and blow off
steam. But what if you could make doing homework fun for your kids?

Check out these ways to make the ordeal a little less painful for you and your kids.

Start a homework blog – You might as well take
advantage of the power of the Internet. Tell the kids that you will
record their feelings and ideas about homework on the blog after they
get it done. You can decide whether you want to update the blog daily or
weekly with new entries. Allow the kids to get creative about entries,
but remember to follow proper Internet etiquette.

Make it practical – In the early grades it’s fairly
simple to make things like math pretty practical by showing the kids
how the subject is used in everyday life. For many kids, just making the
connection between what they are learning in school and how it applies
to real life makes them more interested in their subjects.

Teach your kids how to competeinternally
– The world is full of competition, but not everyone knows how to
compete with themselves. If you can teach your child how to compete
internally, always trying to do a little better than they did the last
time, that self competition can cause your child to want to excel for
the sake of excelling. Teaching kids to compete with themselves also
helps in warding off peer pressure when they reach their teen years.

Rewards – There are pros and cons about giving
rewards, but the right kinds of rewards won’t necessarily cause your
child to achieve for the wrong reasons. Sometimes just a hug with a few
well chosen words is enough. Avoid rewarding your kids with food,
especially sweets, as this will set up an unhealthy association between
food and rewards for them and can lead to eating problems down the road.

Usemusic as a way to help with learning
– Some subjects can be pretty boring, but if you add a tune to some of
the things they need to learn, kids will learn the material better and
have fun doing it. For example, you can use the “Birthday Song” to
memorize the multiplication tables.

Turn homework into a game – Create a game to help
with homework. Each correct problem is worth a point and the points add
up to different levels. Try to get to the highest level to win a token.
Tokens can be redeemed for something special. You decide what that is.

Help with homework in a positive, proactive manner –
Sit down with your child on occasion and help them with the harder
homework. Showing your interested in their work can make it more
engaging for them. You may not want to do this every time they sit down
to do homework, though, because that will take away the novelty of it.

Get the kids to read – Believe it or not, one way
to make homework more fun is to get your kids to read. If you get them
interested in reading and seeking knowledge while they’re young, it will
instill in them the desire to continue to learn.

Change the location – Just for fun, let the kids do
homework in a different place; for example let them do homework
outside, if the weather permits, or let them choose a different place to
work.

Let your kid be the teacher – Have your kids teach
you the things they are learning. Have them show you how to solve the
problems and ask them questions as if you are the student. This will
help them retain the information and understand it better.

With some creativity you can find many ways to make homework fun
for your kids. Taking an interest in what they are doing will help
immensely. Your participation can cause your kids to be more engaged and
more likely to finish their homework and projects.

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About Me

As a Parent Advocate and Author, my parenting book "Wit's End!" is
now available. Published by the publishers that brought you Chicken Soup
Book Series for the Soul series. Order today at www.witsendbook.com

My next book, Google Bomb, is also available now!
http://www.googlebombbook.com When revenge becomes e-venge many people are finding out how quickly their lives can be taken from them digitally and in real life!

Cyberbullying isn't only for kids, adults can sometimes be worse than teens!

Learn more and be proactive about maintaining your online reputation.

I am also on the Board of Director for Communities in Schools. I volunteer to help empower and keep teens in school. Education is the keys to success in life!